Memoirs by Billie Jean King and Rob Burrow, Michael Holding on racism in sport and the story of Barça
Barça: The Inside Story of the World’s Greatest Football Club
Simon Kuper (Short)
The rise of Barcelona over the last four decades was one of the glories of modern sport. Wonderful playing allied to a philosophy that saw the club as something more than just a sports team within Catalan life and culture. But what happens when the philosophy is lost? When the virtuous circle of a seemingly endless supply of great players from its youth system, ensuring vast amounts of money to buy in whatever other talent was needed, is broken? Through perceptive portraits of key personnel such as Johan Cruyff, Pep Guardiola and Lionel Messi, Kuper’s account of the club’s rise, and its recent precipitous decline into debt and underperformance, will interest both business theorists and football fans.
All In
Billie Jean King (Viking)
King’s story would have been remarkable if it had been solely about tennis. But her record-breaking accumulation of grand slams was just one byproduct of her supreme facility for the game. Starting with an objection to the different ways boys and girls were treated at junior tournaments in 1950s Los Angeles, King’s determination to ensure fair recognition, and later fair reward, for her talent and effort, would place her at the heart of campaigns for equality both on and off court, from parity of prize money to women’s and gay rights. As she sums it up in this blistering autobiography: “Even if you’re not a born activist, life can damn sure make you one.”